What is the difference between hebrew and Jewish?

Answer 1

Hebrew is a language of the Afro-Asiatic family, spoken by about 6 million people, either as a first or second language (mainly in Israel).

Jewish describes an ethno-religious group of people, who mainly practice Judaism in one form or another, although there are also secular Jews.

Some people also use the word Jewish to describe the Yiddish language, which is a dialect of low German influenced by the languages of 11 different European countries. This is a somewhat inaccurate use of the word 'Jewish', though, since there are other languages spoken by Jews that are also sometimes called 'Jewish'.

Answer 2

Hebrew and Greek are not as much about difference in translation as they are about the languages used in the old and new testaments

Most of the Old Testament (except for the time of captivity in Babylon) was written in Hebrew, which is the language of the tribes of Israel.

All of the New Testament is written in Greek which was the language commonly spoken in Judea at the time of Christ (forced by Alexander the great about 330 years earlier).

Answer 3

There is no such language as "Jewish". Jews all over the world speak many different languages.

Jews from Israel speak hebrew, but many European Jews speak Yiddish or Ladino as a second language. Hebrew is also taught in Jewish schools outside Israel.

Answer 4

No. Hebrew is the language of The Bible. It is a semitic language, related to Arabic.

Yiddish is dialect of low German plus 10 other european languages, and is unrelated to Hebrew, except that both languages use the same alphabet (with different spelling rules).

40% of the vocabulary of Yiddish is borrowed from Hebrew, but the words are often pronounced quite different and even have different meanings.

Answer 5

There are a few dozen languages that can be called Jewish languages, but there is no single language called "the Jewish language."

The following languages are the most common languages used specifically by Jews:

• Hebrew
  
• Yiddish
  
• Ladino
  
• Jewish Aramaic
  
• Judeo-Arabic
  

Answer 6

All translations are the best interpretation of the translator. But there is definitely some opinion involved.

If you're talking about the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew text is the original, and any Greek text is just a translation.

Answer 7

Yes, Hebrew and Yiddish are about as different as English and Vietnamese. They are not related languages at all.

The only similarities are that Yiddish uses a modified version of the Hebrew alphabet, and about 10% of the vocabulary of Yiddish comes from Hebrew.

Answer 8

Nothing, other than the era that it is connected to.